Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh held a meeting with the leadership of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), on Saturday night to find solutions to the lingering issues surrounding the status of the contract with the Super Eagles Coach ahead of the last African cup of Nations qualifying match.
The Hon Minister’s team which included his Permanent Secretary and some Directors and that of the NFF led by the President, had very fruitful discussions.
Importantly, the meeting agreed to extend the expired contract with the Super Eagles Coach to the end of February,2024.
The meeting was also briefed that the coach had agreed to a salary cut for the duration of the extended contract.
With the Super Eagles set to take on São Tomé and Principe in a dead/rubber AFCON Qualifiers in Uyo, Enoh stated that he will celebrate a victory from the team, which would come as a good welcome gift for him.
“Even though we are home and dry in the qualifying series, I will be excited if the Super Eagles can beat São Tomé and Principe for the generality of Nigerians, as we celebrate this new phase of our sports”.
The meeting held in Abuja had in attendance, the President of the NFF, Alh. Ibrahim Gusau, 1st Vice President, Felix Anyansi-Agwu, Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi and Legal Counsel Barr. Okey Obi.
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It is a new phase in more ways than one for me.
The phrase “be careful with what you wish for” readily comes to my mind when considering an aspect of Peseiro’s new contract – if what I read in the dailies is to be believed.
Many would have forgotten one trivia in the wake of Gernot Rohr’s ascension to the throne of Super Eagles Gaffer way back in 2016 but I didn’t forget.
Back then, the National Association of Nigerian Coaches (or whatever they are called) threatened the NFF with fire and fury if Amaju Pinnick returned a foreigner as Super Eagles coach after Captain Coach Sunday Oliseh jumped ship, leaving his Super Eagles fleet crashing into the iceberg of Afcon non-qualification.
Nigerian coaches wanted Amaju to replace him with only an indigenous coach.
With both Parties on a definite collision course and looking each other eye to eye, Amaju blinked and offered a concession.
He said, ‘I will divide the role of Super Eagles coach into 2, Super Eagles A Coach and Homebased Super Eagles B coach respectively’. So that the Association of Nigerian Coaches will not throw their toys out of their pram, Amaju unveiled Gernot Rohr as Super Eagles coach A and Salisu Yusuf as Homebased Super Eagles Coach B.
Nigerian Coaches begrudgingly accepted this concession.
For me it was a stupid arrangement. You want Homebased players to be given a fair shake in the main Super Eagles selection, what better way to accomplish this (if at all possible) by having 1 coach handle both teams?
This arrangement worked wonders for Stephen Keshi and Sunday Oliseh. It allowed them to continually perfect their strategies with homebased training materials whilst working with the same homebased players and then consider any good/promising ones among them for the main Super Eagles team.
You can then see why I welcomed the news of Jose Peseiro being handed the mandate to handle both Super Eagles A and B teams (if this news proves to be accurate – one must be wary to believe everything written on the internet these days).
I think it augurs well for the pool of players to be considered for both teams and will restore credibility back the the Homebased Super Eagles teams after Salisu Yusuf carelessly tarnished it with his bribery scandal. I like Salisu Yusuf by the way but in the eyes of a vast majority of Super Eagles fanbase, he is “damaged goods”.
The National Association of Nigerian Coaches had its way but I think that arrangement proved to be inimical for the progress of Homebased Super Eagles in recent years as they have had to endure multiple failures.
We need one coach handling both teams. Then at least Peseiro can elect to draft any homebased players into the main Super Eagles team on his own volition.
“Even though we are home and dry in the qualifying series, I will be excited if the Super Eagles can beat São Tomé and Principe for the generality of Nigerians, as we celebrate this new phase of our sports”, said the Sports Minister.
I share that air of optimism espoused by the Sports Minister.There now seems to be a period of sanity in the Super Eagles A and B teams.
Let’s just just hope it doesn’t prove to be the calm before a very horrific storm!
God does not sleep it seems that he has brought us a blessing in disguise with this sports Minister. this may be the guy to root out the Criminals in our Sports Industry I am keenly watching
The Sports Minister should get serious and fix Nigeria’s stadiums, flysh out corruption in sports associatiobs, and stop making naive statements and childish demands